Chapter 315: School Silver

In the early morning, before the rooster crowed, the sound of rushing water echoed through Yinxing Yuan.

Xiao Man sat on a small stool by the bed, groggily opening her eyes.

She picked up the little black cat and followed the sound of water out the door, where she saw Chen Ji rolling up his sleeves and pouring water from a wooden bucket into the large jar in the side room.

She rubbed her eyes and said in surprise:"Young master, you really went to fetch water? Which noble young master would do that himself? If word gets out, people will laugh at you."

Chen Ji smiled and said:"I'm not some noble young master. I'm just a commoner from a medical clinic apprenticeship background. I don't care what others think of me."

Xiao Man muttered:"You're no longer at the medical clinic, so don't mention that apprenticeship identity anymore. Lots of people in Jingcheng don't know about it."

Chen Ji lowered his sleeves and said seriously:"Xiao Man, being a medical clinic apprentice is an identity I like the most. There's nothing shameful about it."

Xiao Man looked up and cautiously asked:"Is it because of the junzhu you met there?"

Chen Ji paused for a moment while adjusting his sleeve and said candidly:"Not entirely. There's also my shifu, my two shixiong, the shizi, Doger Ge, Catter Ge. Oh, and a little monk who can see through people's thoughts—he's probably cultivating at Yuanjue Si right now. We can visit him if we have time."

Xiao Man said softly:"Young master, may I say something you might not want to hear? That junzhu..."

Chen Ji interrupted:"Xiao Man, even if you were trapped in Jingyang Gong, I would do everything possible to save you."

Xiao Man's eyes lit up:"Really? Young master, you're not tricking me?"

"Really, really," Chen Ji said, changing the subject: "By the way, how much silver do I have left?"

Xiao Man carefully calculated:"When you left Guyuan, young master, you had two hundred and thirty-seven taels. Then, during the sworn sisterhood ceremony, Second Sister gave six hundred taels as a gift. After returning to the Chen residence, Duanwu Jie bought information from you for one hundred taels, and from that, I took thirty taels, I meant twenty taels for myself, and you got eighty taels. In total, that's nine hundred and seventeen taels."

Chen Ji pondered: A striped pattern required lighting seven hundred and twenty furnaces, which meant three hundred and sixty ginseng roots and over ten thousand taels of silver...

He already had three stripes on him, needing five hundred and fifty furnaces.

At least forty thousand taels more!

Shan Jun Menjing was too expensive. Where could he get that much silver? Even if he reclaimed all of his aunt's properties and sold them, it might not be enough.

Besides, he had another matter to handle, which would require a lot of silver.

After thinking for a moment, Chen Ji said:"Xiao Man, we need to save up money lately—save a lot of it."

Xiao Man asked puzzled:"Young master, what do you need so much money for? For betrothal gifts?"

Chen Ji shook his head:"No, you'll find out later. Go back and catch some more sleep. I have to go to Yulin Jun Dudu Fu for duty."

Xiao Man followed him to the courtyard gate:"Then I'll bring you lunch. The Chen family's meals don't cost anything, and now that the master and the eldest master have instructed the kitchen, they won't dare trouble me anymore. We should save where we can and spend where we need to, but if your colleagues see it, they might mock you for being thrifty—even unwilling to eat at a restaurant."

Chen Ji smiled:"It's fine. Let them think what they want."

Xiao Man suddenly said:"Oh, right, this little black cat doesn't have a name yet. Why don't you give it one? You've never even held it."

She held the little black cat up, and it turned its round eyes, looking around curiously.

Chen Ji didn't reach out to take it; he just smiled and said:"You can name it."

With that, he turned and walked out the side gate of Qinzheng Yuan along the blue brick path.

The Chen family was the second household on Fu You Street, with a clean blue brick road in front, carved with patterns of plum, orchid, bamboo, and chrysanthemum.

As soon as he stepped out, he saw Li Xuan waiting at the door, while Qi Jianzhe leaned against the side gate, kicking the stone lion in front of the Chen house absentmindedly.

Seeing Chen Ji come out, Qi Jianzhe quickly wiped the footprints off the stone lion with his sleeve:"Shifu, you finally came out."

Chen Ji asked curiously:"Why are you here so early for duty? I thought you'd sleep in at home."

Qi Jianzhe sighed:"It was tough getting me out of jail, so I have to be diligent now. If that poisonous official catches me slipping up again, my dad might break my legs."

Chen Ji looked at Li Xuan:"Why are you both waiting for me here?"

Qi Jianzhe quickly explained:"The Qi family is the first on Fu You Street, and yours is the second, so it's right on the way. Besides, Chen Wenren's underling Zhao Zhuofan got beaten, and who knows if he's plotting revenge. That guy has no real skills, but he's full of nasty tricks. What if he sends someone to ambush you and make you late for duty? It's safer to go together."

Chen Ji nodded.

Qi Jianzhe added:"I'm not underestimating you, shifu— we all know your skills— but Chen family's second branch has some xingguan under them. If that kid orders them to cause trouble, it's hard to guard against."

Chen Ji smiled and said:"No need to explain. Thank you."

The three of them crossed the Hanbaiyu bridge and left the area of noble mansions, entering streets filled with humble alleys and rising cooking smoke.

As they passed through the alleys, the sky was still dim.

At the alley entrance, a coal stove had steaming baskets piled higher than a person. An old man in a short jacket banged an iron ladle against the pot rim and called out cheerfully:"Fried dough twists! Sweet oil cakes!"

In front of the stall, a few small tables and stools were occupied by laborers eating breakfast, muttering:"Yesterday's wrestling match on Tianqiao—which side won? I was in a hurry to deliver vegetables to the Hu family and didn't stop to watch."

The stall owner laughed heartily:"Definitely He Ji. They've won for seven years straight, keeping Rui Fu Xiang down."

At a small table, a burly man said mysteriously:"I was at Tianqiao yesterday and almost missed the gathering at Li Shilang's house, heh. But this time, it wasn't He Ji that won!"

"Hurry, tell us—what happened?"

"Rui Fu Xiang brought in some new wrestler, nicknamed Pao Ge. He's incredibly skilled and beat He Ji's Wang Kui badly!"

"Wow! That impressive?"

Chen Ji stopped in his tracks. Li Xuan turned back curiously:"What's wrong? They're just some low-level thugs from Dongcheng, always wrestling and fighting over territory. The officials are tired of dealing with them. No one knows who's backing them, so they've lasted this long."

After thinking for a moment, Chen Ji said:"Nothing. Let's go."

The three continued along Xi Chang'an Avenue until they reached the yamen gate, where over two hundred Yulin Jun soldiers were already in the drill ground.

Chen Wenren, who was giving orders, saw them enter and glanced sideways before continuing:"From today, all Yulin Jun will be on rotating duty. Anyone late for roll call will face my wrath as the commander."

Qi Jianzhe grinned and pulled Chen Ji forward, interrupting Chen Wenren:"Let me introduce everyone to our Yulin Jun's new instructor, Chen Ji. From now on, he'll be teaching us combat skills. The brothers who came back from Guyuan know what he's capable of. Those who didn't—well, you'll find out soon enough."

Before he could finish, Chen Wenren sneered and cut in:"I checked the Ministry of War's documents. They only promoted him to xiaoqi officer, nothing about making him an instructor. Are there any ranks lower than xiaoqi in our Yulin Jun?"

With that, the Yulin Jun soldiers around him burst into laughter, their white pheasant feathers shaking on their helmets.

Yulin Jun was a place for officials' sons to gain experience.

In units like Shenji Camp, Wansui Army, and the Five Armies Camp, ranks went from general to deputy general, staff officer, qianhu, baihu, zongqi, xiaoqi, and soldiers.

But Yulin Jun only had commander, baihu, zongqi, xiaoqi, and soldiers—oddly, nine out of ten were xiaoqi officers, with more officers than soldiers.

Qi Jianzhe pointed at someone beside Chen Wenren and said:"Li Bing, don't think I don't know how you got your xiaoqi rank. Your family bought some bandits for you to capture as merit. How dare you laugh?"

Li Bing's face changed:"Qi Jianzhe, are your hands clean? Do you think I don't know how you became deputy commander?"

Qi Jianzhe hesitated:"Well, I've turned over a new leaf now!"

The opposing Yulin Jun soldiers roared with laughter:"Talking like it's nothing—have you really turned over a new leaf?"

Chen Wenren said coldly:"We're all from official families here, so no one should act high and mighty. Besides, seventy percent of our Yulin Jun brothers have xingguan menjing. We don't need him to teach us."

Du Bao, who had returned from Guyuan, narrowed his eyes:"Xingguan menjing—big deal? We're all from official backgrounds. Wait till you've been on the battlefield; you'll see that when Jing Dynasty cavalry charges, xingguan menjing is just a target."

Chen Wenren chuckled and pointed at Chen Ji:"Fine. If he wants to be instructor, I'll have someone spar with him. If he wins, he can have the position. If he loses, he'll stay as his xiaoqi. Wang Fang, you try him. If you win, you'll be the yamen's instructor."

The Yulin Jun soldiers parted, revealing a burly man inside.

Qi Jianzhe whispered to Chen Ji:"Shifu, don't worry. This baihu, Wang Fang, always boasts about one foot in the Xun Dao realm, but it's probably all talk—he's never fought anyone. With your skills..."

Before he finished, Chen Ji spoke up:"I can't win, no need to try."

Qi Jianzhe was stunned.

Chen Ji headed toward the Dudu Fu as he casually said:"Yulin Jun is full of xingguan experts; everyone has their own skills. You won't learn much from me. Don't listen to Qi Jianzhe's nonsense—I was just lucky in Guyuan; I don't have real ability."

Chen Wenren was taken aback; he had prepared a string of tactics, but Chen Ji had no interest in the position, leaving him unsure how to proceed.

Qi Jianzhe followed behind Chen Ji, whispering:"Shifu, why say that? You beheaded over a hundred enemies—that's not just luck."

Chen Ji turned to look at him and asked curiously:"What's in it for me to teach them?"

Qi Jianzhe said matter-of-factly:"You're the Yulin Jun instructor—that's quite prestigious."

Chen Ji asked again, puzzled:"Is Yulin Jun a powerful, renowned army?"

Qi Jianzhe opened his mouth but said nothing.

Chen Ji entered the Dudu Fu, took armor from the cabinet, and put it on. Li Xuan said beside him:"You not wanting the instructor position is your choice, but the brothers from Guyuan want to learn combat from you."

Chen Ji bowed his head to fasten the armor, remaining silent.

Qi Jianzhe, unsure if he was willing or not, grew anxious:"Shifu, say something."

Chen Ji stayed silent.

Then, Li Xuan suddenly remembered something and whispered to Qi Jianzhe:"Longmen Inn."

Qi Jianzhe asked, confused:"What about Longmen Inn? Brother-in-law, why bring that up now? Don't mention that place—it's my nightmare."

Li Xuan whispered:"You forgot what he did at Longmen Inn earlier—trading information about the prince."

Qi Jianzhe suddenly realized and turned to Chen Ji:"Shifu, if you teach me combat, I'll pay you fifty taels of silver per month!"

Chen Ji smoothed his shiny breastplate and said:"Deal."

He then turned to Li Xuan:"Does Li Daren want to learn too?"

Li Xuan hesitated:"...I'd like to, but my wife manages the money, so I can't afford that much."

Chen Ji said warmly:"It's fine. Any amount shows sincerity—sincerity is what matters."